working on it right now, getting paid about two cents an hour working for Turner Broadcasting.”
Sam was confused. “You mean she’s working tonight?”
“Nah.” Kay Kay gestured toward the stairs with her glass. “She’s up there in her room getting over a fight with her boyfriend, Trey. She’s been crying for two days. I told her to slap some cold tea bags over those eyes and get her little tail down here.”
Just then, as if her mother’s wish were her command, Totsie Kay materialized on the stairs. She was a fresh-scrubbed young blonde in golden-pink silk. Small, but rounded in all the right places, she looked like a dish of peach ice cream. Totsie flashed her mother a smile that was a bit nervous but nonetheless, like her mother’s, almost blinding in its porcelain whiteness.
“Honey, I’m so glad you’re feeling better.” Kay Kay took Totsie by the arm as if she were a little girl in her pinafore to be pushed forward. “Now, this is Samantha Adams. I know you two have lots to talk about. I’ll see you both later.” With that, Kay Kay exchanged her empty glass for a full one from the tray of a passing waiter. So much for being introduced to every handsome man in the room, Sam thought wryly. “ Fenster! You old dog!” Kay Kay cried to an approaching guest, and trailed off.
Samantha turned back to the daughter, who was still smiling brightly.
“I follow your byline in the paper,” Totsie said, so softly that Sam had to lean toward her. Was her mother kidding? This sweet young thing a cheerleader? In television? “That was a super series you did on the election scandal. I’ve been wanting to meet you.” Totsie was picking up speed as she went along, and her voice was growing louder. “Daddy said that since you were George’s niece, sooner or later he’d wangle an introduction for me.”
“Why, I’m flattered,” Sam said, and she was.
“Actually, really, I mean…I thought,” Totsie stammered, “one day I’d run into you at a Women’s Club luncheon. I mean, Press Club,” she corrected herself, frowning, “Women’s Press Club.” And then she spilled champagne down the front of her pretty dress. “Oh, shit!” Her lip trembled. “Will you excuse me?”
Before Sam could respond, Totsie evaporated. She fled back up the stairs down which she’d come.
The girl certainly wasn’t feeling well, Sam thought. She looked positively feverish. If at her age she was letting a fight with her boyfriend get to her this badly, she was going to have miles of bad road ahead. But then, Sam reminded herself, think how badly she herself had let Beau Talbot… She shook her head.
Perish the thought of Beau Talbot.
Sam had had a very high incidence of coincidence in her life. It was almost as if she could conjure up people. She thought of them, and then—
“Excuse me.”
Oh, God! She whirled. But the handsome frown at her elbow was very young and unfamiliar.
The frown’s owner bowed slightly. “I’m Trey Nelson. Did I just see you talking with Totsie?”
“Yes, you did.” Sam’s sigh of relief made his frown deepen. She pointed toward the stairs. “But she spilled her drink and went up to change.”
Young Nelson excused himself again, ran his hand through his dark red curls, and wheeled, almost bumping into a waiter.
This was some lovers’ quarrel. Both of them looked shattered.
Two women passed, their arms intertwined. “Well, who knew where he was from? So I said, ‘Why, I don’t believe I know his daddy.’”
Which meant the person in question could have been born of a white trash banjo picker and a she-wolf, for all the welcome he was going to get.
More waiters waltzed by bearing piles of boiled shrimp and red sauce for dunking. Conversation buzzed all around, but none of it lit on Sam. She wished she were home. She could be eating Peaches’ hot tamale pie, or snuggling with Harpo on her chaise, reading.
Well, she couldn’t just stand here. If she kept moving, it
Sam was confused. “You mean she’s working tonight?”
“Nah.” Kay Kay gestured toward the stairs with her glass. “She’s up there in her room getting over a fight with her boyfriend, Trey. She’s been crying for two days. I told her to slap some cold tea bags over those eyes and get her little tail down here.”
Just then, as if her mother’s wish were her command, Totsie Kay materialized on the stairs. She was a fresh-scrubbed young blonde in golden-pink silk. Small, but rounded in all the right places, she looked like a dish of peach ice cream. Totsie flashed her mother a smile that was a bit nervous but nonetheless, like her mother’s, almost blinding in its porcelain whiteness.
“Honey, I’m so glad you’re feeling better.” Kay Kay took Totsie by the arm as if she were a little girl in her pinafore to be pushed forward. “Now, this is Samantha Adams. I know you two have lots to talk about. I’ll see you both later.” With that, Kay Kay exchanged her empty glass for a full one from the tray of a passing waiter. So much for being introduced to every handsome man in the room, Sam thought wryly. “ Fenster! You old dog!” Kay Kay cried to an approaching guest, and trailed off.
Samantha turned back to the daughter, who was still smiling brightly.
“I follow your byline in the paper,” Totsie said, so softly that Sam had to lean toward her. Was her mother kidding? This sweet young thing a cheerleader? In television? “That was a super series you did on the election scandal. I’ve been wanting to meet you.” Totsie was picking up speed as she went along, and her voice was growing louder. “Daddy said that since you were George’s niece, sooner or later he’d wangle an introduction for me.”
“Why, I’m flattered,” Sam said, and she was.
“Actually, really, I mean…I thought,” Totsie stammered, “one day I’d run into you at a Women’s Club luncheon. I mean, Press Club,” she corrected herself, frowning, “Women’s Press Club.” And then she spilled champagne down the front of her pretty dress. “Oh, shit!” Her lip trembled. “Will you excuse me?”
Before Sam could respond, Totsie evaporated. She fled back up the stairs down which she’d come.
The girl certainly wasn’t feeling well, Sam thought. She looked positively feverish. If at her age she was letting a fight with her boyfriend get to her this badly, she was going to have miles of bad road ahead. But then, Sam reminded herself, think how badly she herself had let Beau Talbot… She shook her head.
Perish the thought of Beau Talbot.
Sam had had a very high incidence of coincidence in her life. It was almost as if she could conjure up people. She thought of them, and then—
“Excuse me.”
Oh, God! She whirled. But the handsome frown at her elbow was very young and unfamiliar.
The frown’s owner bowed slightly. “I’m Trey Nelson. Did I just see you talking with Totsie?”
“Yes, you did.” Sam’s sigh of relief made his frown deepen. She pointed toward the stairs. “But she spilled her drink and went up to change.”
Young Nelson excused himself again, ran his hand through his dark red curls, and wheeled, almost bumping into a waiter.
This was some lovers’ quarrel. Both of them looked shattered.
Two women passed, their arms intertwined. “Well, who knew where he was from? So I said, ‘Why, I don’t believe I know his daddy.’”
Which meant the person in question could have been born of a white trash banjo picker and a she-wolf, for all the welcome he was going to get.
More waiters waltzed by bearing piles of boiled shrimp and red sauce for dunking. Conversation buzzed all around, but none of it lit on Sam. She wished she were home. She could be eating Peaches’ hot tamale pie, or snuggling with Harpo on her chaise, reading.
Well, she couldn’t just stand here. If she kept moving, it
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